Reinforced panel sheets



Oct. 23, 1962 LE ROY N. HERMANN 3,0

REINFORCED PANEL SHEETS Filed July 13, 1955 3 Sheets-Sfieet 1 Oct.23,1962 LE ROY N. HERMANN 3,059,733

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Oct. 23, 1962 Filed July 13, 1955 LE RCY N. HERMANN REINFORCED PANELSHEETS 3 Shets-Sheet 3 J j Q7777 Z/ WZZQX/ United States Patent3,059,733 Patented Oct. 23, 1962 3,059,733 REINFORCED PANEL SHEETS LeRoy N. Hermann, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor, by mesne assignments, toPeter S. Pedersen, Peter S. Pedersen,

Jr., and Edward Martin, co-partners, doing business as Central FarmEquipment Company Filed July 13, 1955, Ser. No. 521,797 8 Claims. (Cl.189-34) This invention relates to metal panels for use in prefabricatedbuildings and more particularly to a panel sheet which has unusualstrength imparted to it during the process of formation.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No.437,686, filed June 18, 1954, now abandoned, and is a continuation of myapplication Serial No. 456,962 filed September 20, 1954, now abandoned.

Although corrugated metal panels have long been used in prefabricatedbuildings, they have proved insufliciently resistant to stress and haveneeded an excessive number of truss elements before they could be usedto form a reasonably strong building.

I have, accordingly, devised a metal panel sheet which is strong enoughso that interior truss elements can be virtually eliminated in buildingsconstructed therewith.

My panel is provided with ribs of metal having unusual hardness,produced by coining with rolling dies similar to those described in mycopending application No. 322,283 now Patent No. 2,775,284 issuedDecember 25, 1956. The coining may also be elfected by dies using abrake press. I have found that by coining the metal, I can augment theRockwell B hardness in the deformed area by several points, so that therigidity of a building constructed with my panel is greatly increased.

Referring noW to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an end view of one of the braced panel sheets which may beconstructed according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of one of the V-ridges in a panelsheet constructed in accordance with the present invention, taken in thedirection 3 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view through the flat of one of the panelstaken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the V- shaped portion seenin FIGURE 1 taken on line- 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of a modified form of braced panel sheet whichmay be constructed according to the present invention;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the same;

FIGURE 8 is an end view of yet another form of panel which may beconstructed according to the present invention;

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of the same;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of a bead formedadjacent a V-ridge in a panel according to the present invention, takenon the line 10-10 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view of another form of coinedcorrugation;

FIGURE 12 is a cross sectional view through the V- brace of archedbuilding panels in partial overlapping longitudinal alignment; and

FIGURE 13 is an end view of a building formed from the arched buildingpanels.

FIGURE 14 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the shapedportion shown in FIGURE 5.

In the embodiment of the invention herein described, the sheet 10 seenin FIGURE 1 has a V-shaped brace portion 12 along one edge terminatingin beads 14 and 16 along the edges thereof, an adjoining wall portion 18and a dished brace portion 20 along the opposite parallel edge.

Corrugations or pleats may be formed on the surface of the wall portion18 and in the V-shaped brace portion 12 by means of rolling dies such asdescribed in my copending application No. 332,283 now Patent No.2,775,284 issued December 25, 1956, or by a press brake with suitabledies. As seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the V-shaped brace will have groovesor pleats 24 formed on its sides normal to its longitudinal axis, andcomplementary pleats are coined on the apex 26 of the ridge. At the sametime, the surface 18 of the panel will have similar pleats 28 formedtherein, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, preferably extending across theentire expanse thereof.

The increased strength imparted to the panel by coining the lateralcorrugations in the V-brace is of the greatest significance inconnection with the arched panels shown in FIGURES 12 and 13. In thecoining process the metal is displaced from the thickness of certainareas into that of adjacent areas, resulting in alternating thinned andthickened regions of the blank. (Vide: Sheet-Metal Fabricating, Sachs,Reinhold, 1951, at page 166.) This is cause it is well recognized thatan arched structural member does not possess the strength of a straightstructural member of the same cross section. This is true irregardlessof whether the member is in tension or compression but it would seemmore pronounced in the latter. Through coining I am able to provide anarched V-brace panel with lateral corrugations in the V having over ofthe expected strength of a straight V-braced panel; uncoined archedV-brace panels with lateral corrugations in the V would havesignificantly less than 80% strength.

In the formation of the laterally corrugated V-brace by coining theoutermost areas of the corrugations as shown by 30, 36, 39 and 43 ofFIGURE 5 and 26 of FIGURE 3 are stretched (true coining) as seen orviewed from outside the V and the metal in the valley of the corrugations when viewed from outside the V as shown by 32, 37, 34 and 41of FIGURE 5 is thickened (commonly called upsetting). Such areas becomestronger and hardened and enhance the strength of the arched panel atpoints where greatest stress occurs.

The deformation produced by the coining process is considerable, as seenparticularly in FIGURES 4 and 5. The stress thus suddenly exerted on themetal, as seen, for example, at the edges 30, 32, 34 and 36 and alongthe sinuous pleating sides 38 and 40, seen in FIGURE 5, effects a markedchange in the hardness of the metal, so as to provide ribs extendingalong the edges and sides of each pleat.

The lateral pleats or corrugations in the V-brace are, in a particularexample of a suitable construction, approximately three fourths of aninch in width from one marginal edge 30 to the next marginal edge 36,and approximately one fourth of an inch deep. The sides 38 and 40 aresubstantially three eighths of an inch in width, while the flat strips37, 39, 41 and 43 may be one fourth inch across. The edges 30, 32, 34and 36 accordingly provide ribs of hardened metal substantially aneighth of an inch in width, where metal of about 18 gauge thickness isused, since the coining produces a rounded configuration in actualpractice. As the corrugations proceed up the sides of the V-brace theydecrease in depth or taper until they vanish at the top.

Another example or formation of a coined corrugation is shown in FIGURE11 wherein the coined area 60 is stretched and the area 61 is thickenedin a gradual manner.

The increase in hardness will, of course, vary with the type of materialfrom which the panels are formed Jr and the initial hardness thereof.Thus, where the initial Rockwell B hardness is 50, the coining ispreferably such as to provide an increase of about four points plus orminus one point. With a 71 hardness sheet, an increase of from two tothree points is preferred.

Referring now to FIGURE 10, wherein is shown a section of the bead 16,seen in FIGURE 1, it will be noted that the edge 42 immediately adjacentthe ridge and the configured side 43 of the bead 44 are also pointswhere great stress has been produced during coining with a correspondingincrease in hardness to provide ribs transverse to the ribs firstdescribed. The rib along edge 42 will preferably be about an eighth ofan inch in width, while the side 43 will have two ribs 45 and 47 formedtherein, each substantially one fourth inch in width. The panel willthus be braced against strain in two directions.

As seen in FIGURES 6 and 7, the panels may be formed with a V-shapedportion 46 and 48 at each edge thereof. Or, as seen in FIGURES 8 and 9,dished brace elements 50 and 52 may be formed at each end of a panel.The dished brace portions may be formed with partial folds, or withoutsuch folds, as in FIGURES 8 and 9, as may the V-shaped portions.

Other constructions may likewise be employed within the spirit and scopeof this invention, and I do not intend to limit the invention to theembodiments shown, which are for purposes of illustration only.

I claim:

1. In an arcuate sheet metal structural unit longitudinally curved in asegment of an arch comprising a trough-shaped sheet metal brace havingthe part of the trough farthest from the terminal extremities thereof onthe inside of the arch, said trough-shaped brace having transverse,uniformly shaped and spaced corrugations terminating in the legs formingthe side walls of the trough whereby the longitudinally curvedconfiguration is produced, the improvement which comprises thecorrugations formed at the part of the trough farthest from theextremities thereof being coined and having alternating thinned andthickened regions whereby the compressive strength of said structuralunit is increased, said thinned and thickened regions being free fromlaterally depending strengthening elements and being substantiallypositioned, respectively, at the nadir portion and zenith portion of thecorrugations when viewed from the inside of the arch.

2. In an arcuate sheet metal structural unit longitudinally curved in asegment of an arch comprising a troughshaped sheet metal brace havingthe part of the trough farthest from the terminal extremities thereof onthe inside of the arch, said trough-shaped brace having transverse,uniformly shaped and spaced corrugations terminating in the legs formingthe side walls of the trough whereby the longitudinally curvedconfiguration is produced, the improvement which comprises thecorrugations formed at the part of the trough farthest from theextremities there- 4 of being coined, said corrugations comprisingalternating sigmoid sections inter-connected by alternating thinned andthickened webs, said webs being free from laterally dependingstrengthening elements and being substantially position, respectively,at the nadir and zenith of the corrugations when viewed from the insideof the arch.

3. In a rectangular sheet metal panel longitudinally curved in a segmentof an arch comprising a central longitudinal body area, an integraltrough-shaped brace formed along the full length of one longitudinaledge of the panel, said brace having the part of the trough farthestfrom the terminal extremities thereof on the inside of the arch andsubstantially below the surface of the central body area, and an offsetportion along the other longitudinal edge of the panel forming aninverted, shallow trough the full length of the panel, said troughshapedbrace having transverse, uniformly shaped and spaced corrugationsterminating in the legs forming the side walls of the trough whereby thelongitudinally curved configuration is produced, the improvement whichcomprises the corrugations formed at the part of the trough farthestfrom the extremities thereof being coined and having alternating thinnedand thickened regions whereby the compressive strength of said panel isincreased, said thinned and thickened regions being substantiallypositioned, respectively, at the nadir and zenith portions of thecorrugations when viewed from the inside of the arch.

4. A rectangular sheet metal panel in accordance with claim 3 in whichsaid central body area has formed therein transverse corrugations whichterminate adjacent said trough-shaped brace and said offset portion,respectively.

5. In an arcuate sheet metal structural unit in accordance with claim 2longitudinal beads disposed adjacent the top of each leg of thetrough-shaped brace.

6. In an arcuate sheet metal structural unit in accordance with claim 2coined areas in said corrugations having 2-5 points of Rockwell Bhardness more than uncoined areas.

7. In a rectangular sheet metal panel in accordance with claim 3longitudinal beads disposed adjacent the top of each leg of thetrough-shaped brace raised above the surface of the central body area.

8. In a rectangular sheet metal panel in accordance with claim 3 coinedareas in said corrugations having 2-5 points of Rockwell B hardness morethan uncoined areas.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS524,932 Caldwell Aug. 21, 1894 689,688 Nodder Dec. 24, 1901 2,443,170Smith June 8, 1948 2,526,323 Blaski Oct. 17, 1950 2,685,354 Collins Aug.3, 1954 2,741,834 Reed Apr. 17, 1956

